By Jerry Jordan, editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. The Action Express Racing organization, founded by NASCAR President and CEO Jim France, was up early Monday morning testing its own version of NASCAR’s Generation 7 racecar, Kickin ‘the Tires has confirmed.
During a paid track tour, the Action Express hauler was parked next to a Goodyear Racing hauler in the Xfinity Series garage. Several crew members were seen running and advancing toward the garage area, but then a matte black racecar with red accents drove away and took to the recently renovated roadway with the new chicane in front. The car was believed to be driven by IMSA driver Felipe Nasr, according to several sources.
Nasr is a Brazilian-born racecar driver who co-drives the No. 31 Cadillac Dpi for Action Express Racing with fellow Brazilian Pipo Derani. He and Eric Curran won the Prototype Championship during Nasr’s first year with Action Express Racing in 2018.
Reached for comment, NASCAR sent a response from Senior Vice President for Innovation and Racing Development, John Probst, confirming the Action Express vehicle test, but stating that it was not part of a sanctioned event or affiliated with the NASCAR sanctioning body.
“The Action Express test lets a sports car team learn about the architecture of the Next Gen car and explore all possibilities for adopting new technologies. The test also benefits NASCAR – it helps us check the durability of parts, helps with tire development and gives us data from a roadway test, ”Probst said in a statement.
Action Express built the car on its own car and leased the track to perform the private test, according to multiple sources.
Officially, NASCAR will test their new Gen 7 car next week after the race. One of the good things that could come from Action Express, which has its own version of the Gen 7, is that NASCAR can now get twice as much data and perform multicar tests ahead of its launch of the new racecar plan for 2022.
One notable difference between the Action Express Gen 7 car at Daytona and the cars driving on the road a day earlier was the sound of the engine. The engine in the Action Express car was much deeper, than more expensive, than today’s Cup Series cars.
Photos by Jerry Jordan / Kickin ‘the Tires
